Burnt/Browning Paper Towels

[OctagonGecko729]

Hello all,

First post on these forums, I'm a regular over on the Repashy forums under the same username.

I was wondering if anyone had any solutions for paper towels burning in the cages? I'm using 20-30gallon sterilite bins for our two new BPs both of which have Zoo med 8watt under tank heaters. Zoo med does say not to use the heat pads on plastic (so does Exo Terra) but I have personally used Exo Terra heat pads with many of our Nephrurus amyae setups without a problem.

The issue I'm having is that temps seem to be 76-78F cool side, 77-81F warm side, 90F basking which is a little cooler then I would like. The two heat pads are hooked up to a rheostat and are set between medium and high.

The issue is, when I tempgun the pad itself on the outside of the cage its hitting 165F or so and the paper towels on the inside are browning after 5 days. I'm afraid that this is going to cause a fire and after doing a bit of research I've found that zoo med heat pads run hotter then some others.

Any tips or pointers would be much appreciated.

[Mike41793]

Turn off the heatpads immediately. Your snakes can get burned. Buy a thermostat to regulate the temps of the pads. I have a VE-200 and love it

[Skittles1101]

A thermostat.

[OctagonGecko729]

Turn off the heatpads immediately. Your snakes can get burned. Buy a thermostat to regulate the temps of the pads. I have a VE-200 and love it

Does the VE-200 allow for multiple cages to be hooked up to the one thermostat? Also, until I get the thermostat should I turn the heatpads off completely? I'm kind of worried that they will end up being too cool to digest properly.

Like I said the basking temp is only 90F measured with a PE-1 temp gun its only the heatpad itself thats hitting those high temps 140-160F.

Thanks.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I'm wondering, how would a thermostat bring the temps up by 2-5F in the cage without causing the heatpad itself to stay at 140-160F?

Like if I purchase the VE-200 and set it to 80F, isnt that just going to drop the heatpads output down to 80F? I would think that this would cause the temps in the cage to drop lower then what they are currently.

[Valentine Pirate]

I'd invest in some other heating equipment. Anything reaching those temperatures and staying that way is dangerous (and I don't trust zoo med/exo terra pads, too many sad stories). Have you considered using a ceramic heat emitter? They don't emit light but get things nice and toasty. I've also been using ultratherm pads with no issues, you can get them from most supply sites such as reptile basics or the bean farm.

[PitOnTheProwl]

How is your set-up?
There is no way your pads are getting that hot but not inside the tub.
My flex-a-watt is set to 98 degrees to get 94-95 degrees in the tub.

BTW you hook the mats/pads to a power strip then plug the strip into the stat

[OctagonGecko729]

I'd invest in some other heating equipment. Anything reaching those temperatures and staying that way is dangerous (and I don't trust zoo med/exo terra pads, too many sad stories). Have you considered using a ceramic heat emitter? They don't emit light but get things nice and toasty. I've also been using ultratherm pads with no issues, you can get them from most supply sites such as reptile basics or the bean farm.

I could definitely purchase some different heat pads, if I did I would go with ultratherm or heat tape. The emitter wouldn't work with the bin setup so well because I have no where to mount the light/dome.

If I did purchase a heatpad that say only put out 100F though, how would this keep my cages hot enough for the BPs? If the 160F output is keeping these sterilite bins at 78-82F, how would a heatpad with less output be alright for this species?

- - - Updated - - -

How is your set-up?
There is no way your pads are getting that hot but not inside the tub.
My flex-a-watt is set to 98 degrees to get 94-95 degrees in the tub.

BTW you hook the mats/pads to a power strip then plug the strip into the stat

One sec, gonna snap some pics for you all, appreciate all the quick responses.

[PitOnTheProwl]

yes pic please

[akillian24]

BTW you hook the mats/pads to a power strip then plug the strip into the stat

Semi-OT: This has never made sense to me. If you have several mats pugged into your strip, but only one probe to measure the temp of one mat, what happens if another mat, without the probe shorts out? Wouldn't that injure a snake, thus defeating the purpose of the Thermostat?

[OctagonGecko729]

Heres a link to the album over at the repashy forums. Just hover over the pics for a description.

http://www.forums.repashy.com/album.php?albumid=592


Heres a few important ones.

Enchi Lesser's Heater


Enchi Lessers Basking spot above paper towels


Enchi Lesser Middle of cage temp, could have been higher because PE-1 was probably bouncing off of the condensation.


Bumble Bee Heater


Bumble Bee Heater temp


Bumble Bee Bask spot temp above paper towels.


Bumble Bee bask spot under paper towels w/ burnt towel.